Adam O’Neal, Opinion Editor at The Washington Post, said that lowering insurance costs requires reducing risk, ensuring solvency and reinsurance, stabilizing markets, and limiting needless cost drivers. This statement was made on The Washington Post.
“The real way to lower insurance costs is to reduce risk,” said O’Neal. “By keeping markets stable, regulators encourage more insurers to compete. They should also try to insulate the insurance market from needless cost drivers.”
In an October 25, 2025 editorial, The Washington Post’s Editorial Board reported on proposed price controls on homeowners’ insurance in states such as Illinois and Louisiana. The board warned that capping rates could drive carriers out and mislead consumers about true catastrophe risk. They argued that regulators should prioritize solvency, adequate reinsurance, and market stability to attract competition. The board urged lawmakers to harden communities against disasters and remove needless cost drivers inflating claims costs. As a positive contrast, the editorial highlighted recent Florida legal reforms and noted slowing premium increases as more insurers return.
According to Insurance Journal, Florida’s litigation environment was an outlier before reforms. Using data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) analyzed by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, industry reporting showed that while Florida accounted for a small share of U.S. homeowners’ claims, it generated a dominant share of lawsuits—about 76% by 2021. Concentrated activity among a limited set of plaintiff firms magnified defense costs and settlement pressure, contributing to insurer withdrawals and insolvencies. This mismatch between claim frequency and lawsuit volume was a central rationale for Tallahassee’s 2022–2023 tort changes aimed at curbing abusive practices and aligning incentives.
Gallagher Re reported that post-reform indicators suggest improving market health in Florida. Analyses from actuarial and reinsurance experts point to stabilizing loss trends, resumed private-market participation, and the depopulation of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens), the state’s residual insurer, as carriers reenter. Reports also note a halt in the wave of insolvencies and moderating renewal outcomes compared with the crisis years. While household premiums remain elevated relative to the national average, the direction of travel supports the editorial’s claim that reducing legal frictions can attract capital and temper increases over time.
Adam O’Neal is the opinion editor of The Washington Post since 2025. He previously served as Washington correspondent for The Economist and executive editor at The Dispatch. Earlier in his career, O’Neal worked on The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page after beginning his reporting career in Rome as a Vatican correspondent.
